GiftaPalooza
by MutantLover09
Summary: A collaboration of gifts for my good friends here at FFN to celebrate the holiday season. First up is Fernclaw's gift: Driving part 1 - Danny has a little trouble with his Driver's Exam and it's not just his nerves.


ML: This is a gift story for a few of my good friends. This first entry is for _Fernclaw_, an authoress that I frickin' love. It will be a two-shot … you'll get it when I add the second part, trust me.

Driving- Part 1

_C'mon, Fenton, c'mon. You can do this. You've beaten your forty year-old billionaire arch-enemy in a fight. You've defeated your future evil self and saved the time stream. And you asked your best friend to the Homecoming dance. You can do this. _

"I can _not_ do this," Danny Fenton muttered, staring at the car he was supposed to drive for his driver's exam. He was the last person in line to take the exam. Actually, he was the only person in line at this point. It was nerve racking for sure. He shifted his feet, wringing his hands together nervously. His palms felt sweaty, and he rubbed them on his jeans legs, chewing on his bottom lip. Danny had honestly never felt this unsure of himself ever before in his life. The butterflies in his stomach were fluttering so much he was starting to feel sick.

Danny took in a deep breath, held it inside his chest and then let it out slowly, clenching and un-clenching his hands into fists. "You're a half-ghost superhero, get a hold of yourself," he whispered under his breath, sounding almost angry.

"Mr. Fenton," a voice called to the teenager, jolting him from his angry and nervous thoughts. Danny looked up at the teacher standing in front of the student driver car, holding a clipboard with a bored expression.

"Mr. Lancer?" Danny said confused. "You're the driving instructor?"

Lancer sighed quietly and nodded. "Yes, Daniel. Now, for the sake of Bartleby the Scrivener would you get in the car? I've been calling you for the past five minutes."

"Y-yes, sir," the teenager stammered, walking slowly towards the car. He swallowed several times to wet his parched throat, dragging his feet across the ground. Lancer shook his head before sliding inside the car and closing the door behind him. Danny rounded the side of the vehicle and opened the driver's side door. He stared at the seat for several moments, seeming frozen to the spot. _This is it, Fenton. You can do it. Piece o' cake. _

He sat down and closed the door; the sound of it closing seemed to resound in his ears like the bolt on a locked door. Danny breathed out deeply and pulled the seatbelt around his shoulder, snapping it shut on the other side of his waist. The half-ghost raised his hands above the steering wheel, bending and unbending his fingers quickly. He listened to his joints snap and pop for several seconds, trying his best to push all other thoughts from his mind. This was just like any other driving session with his family. It was exactly the same … except this time it was for his license … and if he messed this up, he'd be the first Fenton ever to fail his driving exam … Yeah, no pressure at all.

"Daniel?" Lancer said in a slightly annoyed tone. "Are you ready?"

Danny blinked and turned his head to his teacher. He smiled shakily and said, "Yeah, definitely ready." He then turned to face the road ahead of him, reaching slowly forward to put the car into gear. "Totally ready," he muttered, sliding the car into drive. "Completely prepared." Danny pressed down tightly on the brake, stopping the car from moving forward. "I am so ready for this," he said one more time in an attempt to reassure himself.

The half-ghost bit down on his tongue and slowly released the brake. The car rolled forward, and soon, was moving at a steady ten miles an hour. Danny held onto the steering wheel with an iron grip, his knuckles turning white from the pressure.

"Just drive through the course, Mr. Fenton," Lancer commented lazily from the passenger seat, jotting down some notes on his clipboard. "Nice and easy."

Danny only half-heard his words, focusing his entire being on keeping his nerves under control. He pressed down a little more on the gas and the car leaped forward, accelerating to a good twenty miles an hour. The teenager yelped, slamming down on the brake. Danny and his passenger were thrown forward, their seatbelts stopping them from going too far, as the car screeched to a halt. Danny breathed heavily for a moment, his eyes wide and nervous. The car had felt like it was going much faster than twenty miles an hour to him …

Lancer turned to the boy, rubbing his neck a bit. "Daniel, are you sure you're ready for this?" he asked gently, noticing his student's obvious discomfort.

Danny looked at him out of the corner of his eye and nodded quickly. "Yeah … yeah, I'm fine. I just thought I saw a squirrel." he lied quickly, squeezing his eyes shut momentarily. "False alarm."

"Yes, well … try to continue through the rest of the course without doing that." Lancer said, motioning for the boy to continue driving.

"Uh-huh," Danny squeaked, before swallowing again. He looked out the front window, narrowing his eyes. _Alright. This is cake, Fenton. You've done a lot harder stuff than this before, and you've come out fine. This is just a short, little test. A test you can pass. C'mon, you're a Fenton. And Fenton's never quit … Crud, I sound like dad._

The half-ghost released the brake and moved forward once more. This time he still felt nervous, but it was lessened a great deal. He moved through the course slowly but steadily, not even hitting one cone. Danny was beginning to feel confident as he got closer to the end and his tense shoulders relaxed, his grip on the wheel becoming less tight. He even managed a smile as he performed a semi-neat parallel park.

"Nice job, Mr. Fenton," Lancer commented, scribbling something down on his clipboard.

Danny nodded, a full smile blooming on his face. _That's right, Fenton. Almost done, just a few more things, and you're through. _The relaxed grin suddenly left Danny's face as a bluish, white mist escaped form between his lips. "Oh, no," he whispered, his blue eyes shooting back and forth in search of the ghost that had signaled his ghost sense. "Crud," he muttered when a green blur flew in front of the car, quickly followed by two more.

"What was that, Mr. Fenton?" Lancer asked calmly, looking down at his clipboard. He hadn't seen the ghost vultures.

"Uh, nothing, nothing," Danny answered immediately, the nervous tone returning to his voice. _What are those three idiots doing here? Did Vlad send them? Why would he do that? _Danny sped up the car, hoping to finish the exam quickly so he could go ask the birds his questions, or rather, beat the answers out of them. The half-ghost gasped when he felt a sudden jolt in his rear left tire, causing the car to swerve to the right.

Lancer and Danny cried out in surprise, as the teenager desperately tried to regain control of the vehicle, but he couldn't. Both student and teacher were slammed to the side as the car crashed sideways into another parked car.

Danny slowly sat up, shaking his head back and forth. He was alright, but Lancer …? Danny looked over at his passenger to see him looking wide eyed at the car they had crashed in to. "Heh, lucky that car was there, huh, Mr. Lancer?" he asked quietly, hoping to grab his teacher's attention.

The man turned slowly to stare at the boy. "Perhaps … if that hadn't been my car!" Lancer yelled, pointing an accusing finger at the dented front end of his vehicle.

Danny winced. "Oh, um … heh-heh," he stammered, unbuckling his seatbelt. "Sorry, Mr. Lancer, I don't know what happened."

Lancer placed a hand against his forehead and pointed at Danny. "Get out, Daniel."

"But-"

"Moby Dick, Mr. Fenton, get out of the car." Lancer growled, causing Danny to jump. The teen quickly complied, looking nervously at the damage he had caused. The front of Lancer's car was bent in the wrong direction, a bit of steam escaping from beneath the hood. And the student driver car's side was also damaged.

_Not good, _Danny thought fearfully. _Really not good. _He turned to look over his shoulder when he felt the odd sensation that he was being watched. Danny's eyes widened when he saw Vlad Plasmius watching him with bright red eyes. The man smirked at him and gave a small, obnoxious wave.

Danny turned slowly, clenching his hands into fists. He knew what the gesture meant. It was simply: 'I did this to you, now, what will you do in return?' Danny's eyes glowed a fierce green, and he took an angry step in Vlad's direction, thoughts of blasting the older male directly in his smug face filling his mind. He didn't know why Plasmius would ruin his driving test, but he knew that it was payback time.

"Daniel, where do you think you're going?" Lancer called to the teenager as he slowly climbed out of the crushed car.

The younger half-ghost turned to look back at his teacher. "Nowhere, I just-" he broke off as he looked back at Plasmius, only to find that the man was no longer there. _Where'd he go? Where did that fruit loop run to?! _

"We need to call your parents," Lancer said, grabbing Danny by his right forearm. The teenager let himself be dragged along, silently fuming. _I'm not gonna let the fruit loop get away with this. _Danny vowed silently, his hands balling into fists. _I'm not going to let him._

ML: Part two shall continue where this left off and it will be _Shining Zephyr's _gift. Hope you enjoyed it, Fern. *grins* Merry (late) Christmas!


End file.
